One of my biggest faults is that I tend to procrastinate and, although my decision for physician assistant was made quickly, taking the initial steps were difficult. In the beginning, I always thought, “I’ll shadow next summer” or “I have so much time to get everything done” and I just kept putting it off. When I realized that I would have to put in many hours of hard work, I made it my priority to complete not only what was required but as much as I could to prepare myself for this profession. I worked hard to meet the requirements of my desired programs as well as the accomplish the goals I set for myself and this hard work has made me ever more resolute in my decision. For years I wondered why there was so much patient contact and shadowing required for this position and- looking back on my experiences- I now understand completely. Through all of my various involvements, I have learned so much that I would not have learned otherwise. I also determined the things that I can handle such as blood, needles, and some not-so personable people, as well as what fields I would …show more content…
For three weeks, I spent 85 hours in the operating room working closely with the nurses and observing countless surgeries. During my time, I learned that a lot of facets of surgery-for instance observing an open body cavity- do not phase me: I tend to lean in to get a closer look rather than shy away. However, in the middle of my second week, I learned that this indifference to the gruesomeness of surgery may not always be a strength. This realization came during the first amputation I observed. The surgery began as every other I had seen where the whole body was covered except for the limb being operated on. Even the cutting through skin, muscle, and vessels was nothing that I had not seen before. But the last step of the surgery was the part that I was not prepared for: the cutting of the nerve. Although the patient was under anesthesia and did not consciously feel a thing, when the nerve was cut the toes of the almost disconnected leg curled in pain. This involuntary movement of agony that I had not seen before shocked me into remembering that this was a human being on the table, not just a leg. Until that moment, I had only thought about what was happening during the surgery not how much relearning and adapting that losing a limb would entail for a